a/n: Hello loves! Sorry for the wait but you all know the bitchiness of my muse by now. This chapter takes place right where chapter 8 left off. Enjoy! I don't own Glee…


Noah's first instinct told him to settle things with his daughter. While he'd always made it a point to never bring women home with him, he'd also never really kept his liaisons with women secret from Anna. She'd obviously found them this morning. No sense pretending like it didn't happen. Plus, he'd never been able to lie to Anna.

"Um, how long have you been home?" Anna stood up from the couch and he could see the empty cereal bowl in her hands. Long enough to take shower and eat a bowl of cereal apparently.

Anna turned to see another episode of Scooby Doo coming on. She'd watched two already. "Probably an hour and a half. I'd thought breakfast would be ready when I got here but when I saw you and Rachel, I just got some cereal." Even though there was no malice in his daughter's words, they hit him like a punch to the stomach.

It was the weekend. For as long as Anna had been in this world, he'd made it a point that weekends meant family breakfast. She'd come home expecting breakfast and where had he been? In bed. With Rachel.

He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her. Anna accepted his hug with a confused expression. "I'm sorry baby girl. I should've been awake to cook you breakfast." Anna cleared her throat against her dad's chest. He smelled different, like Rachel mixed with him. It was a nice smell.

"S'alright dad. But I got a question. If you and Rachel had sex, why'd she leave? Are you that bad at it?" Instantly, he tensed up. That was the last question he'd expected or wanted to hear from his daughter.

"I don't know why she left. But I'm gonna find out. And it wasn't because I'm bad at it. I'm not bad at it." Anna's face scrunched up.

"Dad, I don't need to know these things." Her dad laughed but Anna realized she had to get the plan back on track. That meant the conversation might get into weird territory. "Do you like her?" There, that wasn't too weird.

"Rachel," he hedged. "Would it be okay with you if I did?" Anna had to bite her tongue from revealing her entire plan. She gave him a noncommittal shrug.

"Yeah, that'd be cool. Rachel's really awesome and nice. It's not like you need my permission or anything dad. But, if you do like her, you should go for it. I just want you to be happy dad." Anna smiled to herself. That answer sounded somewhat objective, and not as though she had a vested interest in the outcome.

Noah reached down and grabbed Anna's bowl so that he could put it in the sink in the kitchen. As he rinsed it out, his stomach growled and Anna giggled behind him. He looked over his shoulder in time to see her scrounging around in the refrigerator. "You still hungry?" On cue, Anna's stomach growled as she nodded her head. "Alright, give me a few minutes. I'm gonna go downstairs and see if I can talk Rachel into coming back up here and we can all eat breakfast. I'll make pancakes." Anna's eyes brightened a bit at the sound of pancakes.

"Heck yes! Plus, it'll save me from having to repeat my slumber party stories all over again to Rachel later. I can just tell you both at the same time." Noah grinned and placed another kiss to the top of Anna's head.

"I'll be back in just a second." Anna watched as he headed for the door and realized he was about to walk around the apartment building partially clothed.

"Hey what are you, an animal?" she yelled out. "You're not gonna put a shirt on?" She saw the grin on his face as he looked down at his bare chest.

"Nah, better chance she'll come back with me if I leave it off." Anna rolled her eyes as the apartment door shut behind him. Adults were so weird.


Rachel had the feeling that answering the door after sneaking out of Noah's apartment wasn't the best idea, but what else was she supposed to do? One thing she didn't expect was opening her door to a shirtless Noah Puckerman.

Her mouth went dry as he stepped into her apartment. As her eyes followed him in the room, she could clearly see the crescent-shaped markings from her nails in his biceps and the scratch her heel had made in his back. She would've felt bad about it had it not been for the bite mark she'd found on her shoulder when she'd changed clothes earlier. Noah turned around with his hands in the pockets of his sweatpants. His eyes seemed to bore into her soul. He almost looked angry but there was something lingering on the edges that softened their appearance. At first, Rachel thought it was hurt. That couldn't be it. Could it?

"Why did you leave," he said, his voice somewhat tense. "Actually, I'd rather know why you snuck out." The way he practically growled the last two words reminded her of how he'd sounded growling her name. "You could also tell me why you snuck out after Anna got home."

Rachel flinched a little at his clipped tone. He'd never sounded like that before. "I left because of her," she whispered. The way his brows furrowed sent a chill across her body.

"What's that supposed to mean," he questioned, already frustrated. Rachel cleared her throat.

"I didn't want Anna to know that I'd slept with her father. You have no idea how much I cherish that girl, my relationship with her. When I woke up this morning, at first all I could think of was last night. I kind of just wanted to stay and do it all over again. But then I saw your tattoo. Everything kind of hit me right then, what we'd done. Then I heard Anna in the apartment and I realized that if she saw me in the position we'd been in, she'd hate me. I couldn't stand it if she resented me simply because we gave in to a night of lust and passion. I feel horrible for sneaking out but I just couldn't bear the look I'm sure she would've given me. I had every intention of calling you so you wouldn't be angry with my leaving but you showed up before that happened. I'm sorry Noah."

The one thing sticking out in Noah's head was that Rachel had only left to prevent Anna from finding out about them. She obviously didn't realize that plan had failed miserably.

He chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "She knows," he admitted. Rachel's eyes got wide as a gasp left her open mouth. "She got home way before either one of us woke up and saw us asleep in my room. She connected the dots from there. So really, you leaving didn't accomplish much of anything aside from making me wake up expecting a gorgeous woman to be in my arms only to find nothing but cold sheets."

For a moment, Rachel felt both flattered at his compliment and mortified that Anna knew. Was she angry? Did she hate her now? Noah had really wanted to wake up with her in his arms? Did that mean anything?

Noah seemed to understand at least half of the thoughts swirling in her head at the moment. "Look, she still loves you, if that's what you're worrying about. You're about to chew a hole through your lip." Rachel felt a small amount of relief wash over her, but not as much as she expected. What was that niggling feeling in the back of her mind? "Be honest with me Rachel. Do you regret last night? Because I sure as hell don't."

Rachel took a deep breath even as the strange constricting sensation in her chest tried to prevent it. Shaking her head, she answered, "no, I don't. It was amazing. I would love to do it again." He eyed her suspiciously.

"I feel a 'but' coming."

"Yes, well, however, considering the other factors involved in the situation, I think it would be best if we not," she paused, searching her brain for words that it was reluctant to give, "if we didn't get horizontal again."

Noah snorted. They'd had sex and she couldn't even say it. Why did things feel more serious now? "We could have sex standing up," he suggested, only partially joking, "that's vertical." In spite of herself, Rachel giggled. But even through her laughter, she couldn't escape the feeling that he was only interested in sex. It certainly hadn't felt that way the night before, so why did his comment leave that impression?

"Noah," she started. He just shook his head to shut her up.

"Fine, I'll stop for now. But only if you come back upstairs and eat breakfast with us. Anna wanted to tell you all about her sleepover anyway." Rachel hesitated but Noah stepped closer. "Come on, I'm making pancakes." When his fingers slipped through hers, she couldn't say no anymore. Lucky he was only asking for breakfast because her control was shot.

"Okay." Rachel quickly found herself staring into his eyes. It felt like he was going to say more, like he wanted to say more. She realized she desperately wanted to know what it was. But Noah simply nodded and released her hand.

"Come on."

Back upstairs, Rachel was immediately worried once more that her relationship with Anna would be forever changed since the girl knew what had happened. But when Anna started in on her sleepover story as soon as she walked in, Rachel tried to put those worries to rest. Even with Anna's animated retelling of how she and her friend had borrowed a room service cart to go exploring the hotel at one in the morning, Rachel just couldn't get those worries to completely shut up.

All throughout breakfast, Noah watched Rachel. He watched her with Anna. He watched as she ate pancakes with them. She fit there without even trying. Yeah, he could tell she was basically waiting for the other shoe to drop but that would pass. Once he got the chance to actually talk to her about the night they'd shared, and convince her to have a lot more, she'd see that they could date without it affecting her relationship with Anna. He would make sure of it. Something about Rachel, something that he'd felt since the first time he'd met her and had only grown stronger, urged him to pursue this. Whatever this was, he didn't have a clue.

It wasn't until she stood up from the table at the end of the meal that he realized she was about to leave (again) and they'd had zero chances to talk.

"Thank you both for the lovely breakfast but I really should get going." Noah quickly pushed his chair out and got to his feet.

"Hold up, I'll walk you out." As he opened the door for Rachel, his hand naturally fell to the small of her back. "We need to talk about this. This stupid fear you seem to have about getting involved with me. I wanna know what's going on." He didn't like the cagey look that suddenly took over her eyes. He took a half-step back so she wouldn't feel trapped. Noah waited, not realizing that he was holding his breath, for her answer.

Rachel found her tongue in her throat. What was it about this man that made her body refuse to cooperate, turn her mind to goo, and force all the sense in her being to run for cover? "You have a family," she started, suddenly wondering where her years of breathing lessons had disappeared to. Noah seemed to be waiting for her to continue. "The life you have with Anna, you've worked hard to build that. I can't expect you to just include me in that." She watched as Noah's eyes flamed with something she couldn't name.

"Fuck that," his voice wasn't quite a growl but it came close enough that she almost flinched. She balked slightly at his words but the shake of his head kept her quiet. "Not sure if you've noticed Rachel but you're already included in our lives. My daughter, who you seemed to be hell-bent on using as an excuse to keep us apart, knows exactly what happened last night and guess what. She still thinks the sun shines out of your ass! So whatever bullshit your brain is overanalyzing right now, tell it to shove it. Now last night was, well fuck, you were there. I just want a straight answer as to why we can't have more of that."

And there it was. The statement Rachel had feared and expected. Her throat hitched and she felt sick. While she realized that she'd spent much of the morning coming up with reasons in her head as to why they should stop this before it went any further, it stung to know that the man who'd been almost gung-ho about beginning to date seriously only seemed to desire a few repeats of their fling. Rachel forced herself to unclench her fists and look into his eyes. "I can't do this right now." Though she hated that her voice came out in a mere whisper, she went on. "Maybe I am overanalyzing things but that's what I do. And at the moment, I need to do that alone. I'll talk to you later Noah." With that, she turned on her heel towards the stairwell, not trusting herself to be able to wait for the elevator.

Minutes later, Noah still stood in the hallway staring at the door Rachel had retreated through. He'd seen the change in her eyes at his words, the anger that flashed in them along with another emotion he'd rather not name to save himself from further confusion, but remained lost as to exactly what he'd said to garner that reaction.

One thing was for sure. He desperately wished he could go back in time to that morning before everything had gotten so fucked up.


Kurt held back a moan as his friend polished off the last of the Italian Heart Attack sandwich he'd ordered from the deli down the street from their office building. He glanced down at his own lunch, a dressingless, meatless, flavorless Caesar salad, and cursed the day he'd decided to go on the diet from Hell.

Noah eyed the other man for a moment before a snort left his body. "You're killing me with the googley eyes dude." With a soft chuckle, he reached into the brown bag bearing the deli's logo and pulled out the twin to the sandwich he'd just finished. Kurt's eyes widened as he slid it across the table. "I had them put extra lettuce on yours so you can pretend it's the diet version." The words were barely out of his mouth before Kurt practically inhaled half of the sandwich in one breath. Noah had to laugh.

It seemed to be a routine they'd developed over the years. Each time Kurt went on some ridiculous diet, Noah was there taunting him with food he wasn't supposed to have. Kurt had very little willpower when it came to food. Somehow, he still managed to maintain the body of a figure skater.

The sigh Noah let out caught Kurt's attention. The melancholy mood he'd sported for the last couple of days hadn't escaped his notice either. Anna had told him about how she'd found Rachel in his bed the morning after her bat mitzvah. Something like that made Kurt assume that his friend's mood would be fantastic. But when Anna informed him that her father's somewhat surly attitude had begun later that same day, Kurt knew something was amiss. Noah, however, had yet to mention anything. Kurt knew that it would be up to him to get the ball rolling.

"So," he began as he swallowed the last bite of his gift, "what's been going on with you lately? You haven't once made fun of my sweater. You were daydreaming during the meeting this morning. You just haven't been yourself. Should I be worried?" Noah gave this forlorn sigh that made Kurt wonder if he was going to get anything out of the man. Finally, he looked around the break room to see if anyone else was listening, then said,

"After Anna's bat mitzvah, Rachel and I slept together." Kurt feigned a look of gentle shock and replied,

"Well finally! About damn time I say. The sexual tension between the two of you has always been a bit stifling. What's the problem then?"

Noah furrowed his brows. "I'm not really sure to be honest. We flirted all night at the party, way more than we've been doing. Once everything was over, I couldn't hold back anymore. So I kissed her. I didn't even think about it. That happened the first time I kissed her too. It's like a reflex or something." Kurt arched an eyebrow at the new information. So there had been another kiss apparently, before all of this happened. Anna would definitely be interested in that tidbit of information. He made a mental note to find out more about that later.

"So what's the problem then?" Noah shrugged his shoulders. Kurt had never seen the man look so helpless.

"I don't know. The sex was incredible, like we knew each other already but it was still all new, you know? Afterwards, we fell asleep. It just all felt right, being with her." Suddenly, his face hardened. "The next morning, I wake up and she's not there. Anna had gotten home already but Rachel was nowhere. So I went down to her apartment to ask why the hell she just left like that. She started in on some crap about how she didn't want Anna to find out because it would ruin their relationship or something. I don't buy it." Noah thought for a second. "Maybe she thinks I've got too much baggage. Single father with a teenage daughter, it's not like it'd be the first time that sent someone running. Maybe she's scared of getting involved in a relationship with me because of that." Kurt shook his head dismissively.

"Considering how much we know Rachel adores Anna, I highly doubt she's the kind of woman to let something like that bother her. But you have to admit, getting involved with someone who has a child is a big risk, especially if the child knows and is an active part of the dynamic. Did you even let Rachel know you were interested in dating her?" Noah's shoulders tensed and his answer was immediate.

"Yes!" He paused, seeming to ponder his answer. Hesitantly, he amended, "sort of". Kurt looked at him with his nose slightly upturned. "No," Noah finally admitted, "but after the sex that we had, it was pretty much implied that there should be a lot more to follow it." Kurt placed both of his hands on the table in front of him and leaned in with comically wide eyes.

"Please tell me you didn't say something to Rachel that may have insinuated you only wanted to have sex with her again rather than start a meaningful relationship with her." He could tell that Noah was going back over his and Rachel's conversation in his head. If only Anna had eavesdropped on the adults, he could know exactly what had been said. A look of dawning crossed Noah's features but his frustration quickly masked it.

"So what if I did? It's not like I'm looking for a wife or anything. Just somebody I can have a good time with, who gets along with Anna, someone who trusts me with things that are important to them and I could do the same. I want someone who wants me."

Neither man mentioned what they both knew to be true; that Rachel fit that description to a T.

Then it hit Kurt. While yes, Noah's feelings about Rachel were quite clear, they didn't know for certain how Rachel felt about him. Rachel wasn't likely to spill her secrets to Anna, at least not on this particular subject, nor was she likely to divulge anything of use to him considering his friendship with Noah. It occurred to Kurt that he and Anna needed an inside man if they wanted to discover Rachel's true feelings on the matter.

Carefully, he hid his smile from the man across the table. If Anna would agree to it, he had the perfect man for the job.

Kurt took a small breath and gave Noah the most useless response he could think of. "I'm sure it'll work out." Noah just shot him a look that said exactly how useless that comment was.


Rachel sipped at her tea before opening her script up to the page she needed. Just as she sat down on the couch, a sound over her head caught her attention. Feet shuffling across the floor, the gentle scrape of a chair, followed by the twang of guitar strings being plucked into a melody. Though her ear strained to identify the song through a ceiling and a floor, Rachel couldn't name what he played. It wasn't easy, feeling so close and not being able to do anything about it.

She was so engrossed in her thoughts and absentminded listening to the muffled song from the apartment upstairs that the knock on the door to her own apartment startled her. The tea cup in her hands almost flew across the room. Before she could get her bearings to see who the visitor was, the door opened and Blaine walked in.

"Sweetie, you look like you've seen a ghost. Are you okay?" Rachel caught her breath and sank back against her couch cushions.

"You startled me is all." Blaine stared at her for a moment before shrugging off his sweater and running a hand through his hair.

"You called me over to run lines with you," he stated. "Shouldn't you have been expecting me?" The sudden blaze in Rachel's eyes caught him completely by surprise.

"I was still surprised when you knocked. What's the big deal," she snapped. In the stunned silence that followed, Blaine heard it, the soft guitar piece coming from upstairs. Suddenly he knew exactly what had his friend so on edge. Before he could mention it, Rachel got up and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Can you say mood swing? "Blaine I'm so sorry. I've just been stressed lately. Paul and Thomas can't seem to make their minds up about who should be cast as Michael. They've managed to narrow it down to three guys but they want me to come in and scene test with all of them to determine who I have better stage chemistry with, how well we play off each other, how our voices mesh, that sort of thing. I've got all of the scenes memorized already but I need you to run lines with me. I just keep feeling so scattered and flustered. I don't know what's going on. I just can't think straight with that damn guitar music playing all the time!" Rachel's fists curled into Blaine's shirt. All he could do was rub his hands up and down her back, trying to calm her down. Every feeling in his body was telling him this had to do with what Kurt had told him about Noah. He had to get to the bottom of this.

"Okay honey, sit down. Let me get you some water and then you're going to tell me what's got you all out of sorts." Rachel nodded numbly as she let go of him to sit down. She felt hot, her throat felt dry, and her skin seemed too tight. When Blaine brought her the glass of water, she took it gratefully. He stared at her expectantly but she just didn't know where to start. "I don't think you're going to be able to attribute this to PMS Rach." He watched as her head tilted to the side and knew she was listening for any sounds of activity from above them. "This is about Noah, isn't it," he ventured since she seemed unwilling to start the conversation. For a moment, she only nodded her head.

"It was the night of Anna's bat mitzvah. There was a lot of flirting and touching all throughout the party and by the end of it, we both had to have more. Have you ever felt so comfortable with someone that you could laugh during sex and it only made it better?" Blaine didn't answer so she continued. "It was incredible. I'd never felt that connected to someone before. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it, about him, since then. God how much of a girl am I?" She gave a mirthless laugh and rolled her eyes. "When I woke up the next morning, I heard Anna and I freaked out. I snuck out but it didn't take long for Noah to come knocking on my door. He seemed angry that I'd left but all I could think of was how Anna would see me after all of this. I let him talk me into coming back upstairs to eat breakfast and Anna didn't seem to care but I can't be sure. Afterwards, Noah made a comment that makes me think he's only interested in sex. I don't know why it hurt like it did, like it does, but I keep hearing him talk about wanting to date and find a serious girlfriend but then all he wants from me is sex. What the hell does that even mean? And then what would happen if somehow we did start a relationship? I would hate myself if I felt I was distracting him from being a good father. And Anna has only ever known life with her dad. Would she start to think of me as some harpy just swooping in to steal her dad away from her? Or would she think I was trying to replace the mother she never had? There're just too many unknowns Blaine. I don't know what to do. And it sucks." With an exhausted sigh, she slumped back and rubbed her temples as the beginning of a headache started to lick at her frayed nerves.

"Rachel, you need to talk to the man." Rachel scoffed but Blaine reached across and placed his hand on her knee. "I'm serious. All of those questions you're driving yourself crazy with, he's the only one who can answer them. And I think that, if he knew how all of this was making you feel, he would answer them in a heartbeat. Guys like Carter have you gun-shy, thinking that you're not gonna find someone who wants you like you want them, and it hurts. Honey I know. But when you've got a shot like this, take it. And don't look back."

Rachel took a deep breath and closed her eyes. The image of Noah that had been there for days just wouldn't go away.

"Blaine, could we just run lines now? I don't really want to think about this anymore tonight." Her tone said the discussion was over so Blaine picked the script up from the coffee table and met her gaze.

"Alright, where do you want to begin?"

Later that night, long after Blaine had gone home, Rachel flipped the television off and decided that if she was going to get any sleep at all, she might as well try to go to bed. She stood over the kitchen sink and poured her teacup's tepid contents down the drain. As she tried to decide whether or not to make a cup of chamomile tea to ease her nerves, there was a knock on the door. Assuming that Blaine had left something, she quickly crossed the apartment and opened the door. With a gasp, she realized it wasn't Blaine.

"Can I come in?" Rachel wanted to say yes and no at the same time. Seeing the way his shoulders slumped a little, how his eyes held a quiet need, the yes won and she stepped aside. Noah kept his gaze on her as he stepped over to the couch and sat down, waiting for her to do the same. Blaine's words echoed in her mind. She tried to will herself to ask those questions but her throat had gone dry again. When she finally sat down, she decided to just let him say his piece. He cleared his throat and somehow the look in his eyes intensified. "I'm sorry about coming by so late but I was hoping we could talk."

"About what?" She could tell her forced nonchalance hadn't fooled him but it was all she had.

"Don't play dumb Rachel. You know exactly what I want to talk about. I should've been straightforward with you about what I wanted from the start. I thought I was to be honest but clearly there's a lot of confusion between us and we need to get rid of that, get past it all." Angrily, Rachel looked away and whispered,

"Maybe it shouldn't have happened at all. That would certainly clear up any confusion." As soon as the words left her lips, Noah reached over and pulled on her chin so she would look at him again.

"Don't say that. You told me you didn't regret it. Are you gonna try and tell me that was a lie now? Talk to me baby. Quit trying to shut me out."

She couldn't be sure who moved in first but the second his lips touched hers, it didn't matter. His tongue had a numbing quality that whenever it touched hers, she felt tension leave her body. Noah tangled his fingers in her hand and gently pushed until her back was flat against the couch. His breath was hot against her face whenever he pulled back for air. She wanted more of it all, more of everything, more of him. His body felt so solid over hers, the way he fit between her legs was perfect. Rachel moaned when he nipped at her neck, so possessive, so physical. Like the first time…

Suddenly, her mind began to repeat 'too many unknowns' like a broken record. They hadn't discussed anything. Despite how wonderful it felt, their bodies didn't need to do all the talking. Not yet at least. Nothing would get done that way.

"Noah," she whispered, "stop." In an instant, she no longer felt the pressure of his body. She missed it just as quickly. Rachel opened her eyes and saw him standing up instead of sitting on the couch. She sat up, trying to calm her speeding pulse. "We've got to stop that. I can't think straight."

Noah's eyes hardened at her words and she realized how he'd taken them. She wanted to talk, to clear everything up, the very reason he came in the first place, and Rachel knew that continuing to kiss him on the couch would solve nothing but the ache at her core. Before she could correct the mistake, he started for the door.

"Fine. I'll leave and you can think all you want. Forget it Rachel." The slamming door seemed to punctuate his sentence with a finality that she hated.

Well the fat lady could choke because this was not over.

Like it? Hate it? Please tell me in a review!